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Archfleur
Archfleur is a northern kingdom on the Western Continent, where most of Desert Thorns is set. Much of its western and northern border lies along the sea, and it is mostly seperated from the rest of the continent by a mountain range along the south and east. Archfleur is heavily forested once one comes down out of those mountains, a mix of marine forest climate to the west and a more deciduous bent further east. Most trade takes place along the coastal areas, though the mountain passes allow for secure land routes that pass through dwarven territory. Archfleur is rather large, roughly 750 miles from east to west and 900 miles north to south. Less than a third of this is settled by humans. The rest is wilderness, or held by populations of non-human races. Archfleur is home to a number of magical non-human beings, including the shy wild elves of the forest, dwarves and harpies n the mountains, the dark men known as Feardorcha , and selkies along the western and northern coast. Before the Dragon Wars, it was also home to a fair-sized dragon population. History The Archfleuran royal family consisted of King Leopold , his wife, and his two daughters, Rose Red and Snow White. All but Rose are Fairest, people of unusually pure souls and a strong connection to the land amplified by the natural earth-magics associated with the monarchs of the Western Continent. After his queen's death, Leopold remarried, taking Damia as his second wife and stepmother of his daughters. This eventually proved fatal, as Damia used him, preying upon his inherent abilities and qualities as a Fairest to fuel her own magics, including magics that preserved her youth and own exquisite beauty. She eventually murdered him to steal this power and make herself Queen of Archfleur, going on to try and do the same to Leopold's daughters. When they disappeared, Damia setted down to rule her new kingdom, stealing particular frequences of land-magic for herself, shunting others aside, corrupting them, and driving off many of the magical beings that called Archfleur home. She also drained the land of material wealth, demanding high taxes, tributes, and tithes. She also permitted the hunting of seals, which angered Archfleur's selkies, who would often be mistaken for real seals and were in danger of being hunted themselves. This continued until Rose Red, with her allies Kiran Vinayak, Esben , and Red, rallied the people and killed the usurping Queen. Rose Red was coronated as Queen of Archfleur and set about putting her kingdom back to rights, with Kiran as her advisor, Red as her Mistress of the Hunt, and Esben as her champion and suitor. This continued for the better part of a year, until Esben's plans to deliver her country to the dark Fae Leilah were uncovered. Leilah turned Esben back into a bear for his failure, and Kiran was soon named Rose's Heir in the event she had no children. She later married the wizard, favoring a business arrangement with him over the false loves and political grasping of the suitors her Council presented. Kiran served his new country well, even after be was bitten by a werewolf. During this time, however, Rose and Kiran alike were unaware of the festering of Archfleur's native magical currents, which had been disrupted and polluted by Damia's dark magics. Rose's ties to the land- and later, upon his coronation as King-Consort, Kiran's- kept these fouled magics under unconscious control. Problems with the fouled magic didn't arise until Sher al Sahra and Maya Ahsan arrived to take Kiran into custody for his murder of the King of Deniz and his old master Al Baz. Kiran fled the country and Rose was taken to Hadiqa by the two wizards to 'encourage' Kiran to come face justice. In their absence, Rose's cousin Hare was placed on the throne. He attempted to start a petition to Hadiqa to have Rose returned to them, but this was seen as a sign of rebellion by his mother Briar and she had him executed. Afterwards, Briarson took the throne. However, as someone who was meant to be an interim ruler only, Briarson did not share the same ties to the land and land-magic that Rose and Kiran did. The fouled magic festered more, now starting to have a physical effect upon the kingdom. Crops were blighted, weather patterns changed for the worse, and most worrisome, scattered sightings of a terrible plague, corpses risen to walk again in a terrifying, unholy unlife began to trickle in. During this time, Alberich Sunshadow, a half-drow paladin from Tawaret, arrived in Archfleur at the behest of his Goddess to start dealing with the undead problem as best he could. He remained at his task until Rose and Kiran returned to Archfleur and reclaimed their thrones, Rose to rule and Kiran to resume his own task of cleansing the land. Roughly a year later, ambassadors from the rapidly-growing Usori Empire far to the south arrived at the palace to guage the strength and wealth of Archfleur. Resources, Trade, and Economics Archfleur is a kingdom rich in natural resources. Its vast forests provide timber for a thriving shipbuilding trade as well as game and furs. The mountains to the southeast contain lots of gold, copper, and iron, which served to attract both dragons and dwarves to the area as well as humans. Grain and and some grapes are both grown in central Archfleur, which is somewhat warmer than the coastline. Additionally, Archfleur's extensive coastline gives it access to a variety of ocean resources, including fish and whales. Whales are hunted for meat, bone, baleen, blubber, and ambergis, a waxy substance used in the manufacture of perfumes to enhance and preserve scents. The shoreline is also ideal for the cultivation of abalone. However, the cold northern waters make it difficult for humans to collect these molluscs. Archfleur has a long-standing alliance with the selkies who dwell in the waters off its coast. The selkies cultivate and harvest abalone for meat, shells, and the very beautiful blueish-tinted pearls they produce in exchange for access to Archfleur's shores and legal protection. Since quite a few of the other kingdoms on the northern sea do not care much for selkies, seeing them as a threat to local fishing, this alliance is benefiicial to both Archfleur and the selkies.